Category Archives: Transhuman News

[This is a review ofBeing Humanseason 4, episode 4. There will be SPOILERS.]

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On the surface, last nights episode ofBeing Humancould be described as a bit talky and maybe even dull. There was the return of yet another old friend in the form of Zoe (the ghost seeing nurse), but no witchcraft, Donna, or time jumps. Josh didnt completely wolf-out and Aidan mostly worried about his feelings. Down deep, though, Panic Womb felt like a game-changer that pushed the main characters to really face who and what they are.

For Aidan, it seemed as if a romantic re-connection with his long-lost wife Suzanna was in the cards at the beginning of this season due to their shared history and Aidans centuries long ache over having lost her to a group of fretting villagers who thought her a witch after he returned from the war with light in his eyes after having been seen dead. After it was revealed last week that Suzanna had single-handedly attacked Kennys blood den, though, it seemed as if that connection was unlikely at best, but now it seems to be completely off the table, and that is a credit to the writers who are clearly trying to make the Aidan and Kat relationship work while passing over some pretty fertile creative real estate.

As is the case with all relationships that Aidan has, though, the lie that is his human life stands in the way of true honesty, especially since he already had to have Kat compelled early on something that still haunts him, especially as he prepares to tell Kat the truth about what he is, partially in response to Suzannas proclamation that he is doomed to never truly live as a human.

From the start of the series, Aidan has been defined as a vampire desperately trying to exercise self-control. There have been notable slip-ups, but for the most part, he has tried to re-enter the human race and he has lived a good (yet complicated) life. Is it good enough to earn the 10 years of a normal life that he tells Suzanna that he wants? Well have to wait and see.

Josh is also behaving himself, trying to fight off the wolf with physical fitness (theres a PSA in there somewhere). While on a ten mile run, though, he sniffs out a pregnant werewolf (Caroline) and the two quickly strike up a trust that is sturdy enough for the woman to meet up with Josh and Nora at the hospital with her husband Andrew to have an ultrasound. Its not completely bizarre to see Josh go out of his way to help another, but after the flurry of changes that he has gone through, its also fair to wonder if the paternal side of the pure-bread wolf is coming out.

Regardless, the couple exitthe hospital after some scary findings only to return to the house later after Carolines water has broken. After a bit, the baby is born successfully, leaving Josh and Nora longing to have their own were-baby.

Read more:
Being Human: Panic Womb

Ronaldo also found a new opponent in FIFA chief Sepp Blatter.

The Blatter-Ronaldo row blew up in October when Blatter, during a speech at the Oxford University Union in England, said Ronaldo resembled "a commander on the field of play".

The head of soccer's ruling body then rose from his chair and strutted on the stage in military fashion in apparent imitation of the player.

Blatter also said Ronaldo had "more expenses for the hairdresser than (Barcelona's Lionel Messi)", bringing an angry reaction from Ronaldo and Real.

The FIFA chief later apologised, saying he did not mean to cause offence.

Ronaldo later revealed that he had duly forgiven Blatter.

'The matter is in the past,' the Real Madrid star told a news conference ahead of the Ballon d'Or awards ceremony.

'We had a telephone conversation to clear up everything that had to be cleared up.'

Post your birthday wishes for Cristiano Ronaldo

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Happy Birthday, Ronaldo! A nice human and footballer par excellence

Gay rights supports crowded outside the Supreme Court in June, 2013, awaiting word on the fate of the Defense of Marriage Act. Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post/Getty Images

One week before the Winter Olympics were set to begin in Sochi, 40 human rights groups sent a letter to the games top American sponsors, urging them to pressure Russia to address its anti-gay policies.

Discrimination has no place in the Olympics, and LGBT people must not be targeted with violence or deprived of their ability to advocate for their own equality, they wrote. As all eyes turn toward Sochi, we ask you to stand with us.

One of letters signatories was the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy organization for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans. HRC focuses on grassroots efforts to promote equality in the United States and was a driving force behind the gay rights movement in 2013.

Well look back and see 2013 as yet another major step forward, recognizing that we still have a long way to go, said the HRCs Legal Director, Brian Moulton.

Supporters of same-sex marriage in the U.S. celebrated some major victories in 2013. In June, the Supreme Court ruled on two landmark cases. The high court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), expanding federal benefits to same-sex couples, and sent the case surrounding a statewide gay-marriage ban back to California, effectively legalizing gay marriage in that state.

Moulton said the the DOMA decision was groundbreaking but acknowledged that the Supreme Court stopped short of addressing statewide bans on same-sex marriage by dismissing Californias Proposition 8 case. He said the court will likely address bans in the near future, considering that there are two dozen other lawsuits filed in federal courts challenging state amendments prohibiting gay marriage. That is very likely to be the way that we see some of these amendments removed, said Moulton.

Opponents of same-sex marriage disagree that the court will declare statewide bans unconstitutional. Peter Sprigg, Senior Fellow for Policy Studies at the conservative Family Research Council told PBS NewsHour, I remain skeptical that the Supreme Court would dare to impose what weve referred to as a Roe v. Wade of same-sex marriage. Sprigg noted that when the justices addressed the issue of abortion in Roe vs. Wade, all they did was unsettle it and inflame the division.

While those on both sides of the issue will keep an eye on the courts in 2014, they are also focusing some of their efforts on the states. In 2013, the number of states allowing same-sex marriage doubled. However, most states have provisions banning same-sex marriage and of those 33 states, 29 have constitutional amendments prohibiting gay marriage. If it was a football game we would still be ahead, said Sprigg.

Overturning state constitutional amendments is also a difficult and complicated process. The Human Rights Campaigns Brian Moulton said advocates of gay marriage have to look at tactics and shift our approach when it comes to this next year. Were certainly at a higher hurdle in a lot of ways. The first test for supporters will be in Oregon, where the Human Rights Campaign is working to repeal its constitutional amendment as part of a ballot initiative in 2014.

Read more:
As gay rights spotlight shifts to Sochi, sides square off back in the U.S.

The Far Post is a co-production of Roads & Kingdoms and Sports Illustrated. Every other week until the World Cup, we'll publish a new feature on global soccer culture. For more Roads & Kingdoms coverage of food, war, and music, visit its online magazine.

By Oliver Bullough, The Far Post

Niall Couper is UK spokesman for Amnesty International. If you follow the news, you'll understand that means he's a busy man. You'll also understand why I, having never met him, was nervous about emailing to ask if he'd like a chat about football.

He replied within three minutes: "Friday?"

I shouldn't have been surprised. Couper is a Wimbledon fan, and Wimbledon fans are always happy to talk football. In fact, it is their enthusiasm for the game that has made Wimbledon possibly the finest football club in the world.

I first heard about their club in 1988, when it met Liverpool -- the aristocrats of English football, the best team in the country, if not the world -- in the FA Cup final. My great grandmother lived in Wimbledon, a patch of south London better known for tennis, but the reason my mates and me, and millions of other Brits, cheered on the boys in blue had nothing to do with geography, and all to do with something far more important.

Wimbledon scored first, a header by Lawrie Sanchez, chiefly noticeable now for the shortness of his shorts. The iconic moment was later in the game, on the hour mark, when Liverpool's John Aldridge -- a mustachioed Irish international in his club's famous red strip -- lined up a penalty against Dave Beasant, Wimbledon's goalkeeper, resplendent in yellow shirt and Brian May hair.

Aldridge shot to Beasant's left. Beasant dived, full stretch, turned the ball round the post. Aldridge sank to his knees. Beasant snarled. May 14, 1988: the day when Wimbledon won the FA Cup 1-0. It was perhaps the biggest shock that the world's oldest football competition has ever seen.

"I was there. I was behind the goal, I saw him dive," Couper said.

Wimbledon's Lawrie Sanchez holds the FA Cup as captain and goalkeeper David Beasant acknowledges the fans after defeating Liverpool 1-0 in the 1988 FA Cup final.

Read more here:
Far Post: The Most Righteous Team in England

Hurricanes destroy earthquakes shatter, war rips apart, economies collapse, businesses go bankrupt, people die. This is the way of the world. Human suffering is based on wanting to change the things that have happened and wanting to change people. When we understand that the only thing we can change is our response to people and the ways of the world, we can begin to find peace, we can be powerful people even in the midst of chaos and adversity.

This can sum up the desiderata of Chris Balsley, an American corporate coach and Tension/Trauma Releasing Exercise (TRE) expert who, with his team of trainers, is in the Philippines for a month to help survivors of Supertyphoon Yolanda. The team is giving free training to Filipinos so that TRE can reach more people whose trauma needs to be addressed. The training lasts for three days, followed by one to two days of practicum for those who will be dispatched to the field.

TRE was brought to the country by Human Capital Development.

I participated in the last of the three days of Batch 1. I got to experience the entire menu and was with those who already had two shaking days. I, too, had my own shaking experience. More on this later.

I read up on TRE before interviewing Balsley (www.stress-proof.com). I wanted to be a participant, not just an observing journalist. Having a psychology background, I am not a stranger to body and mind exercises, meditation, awareness and wellness seminars, even altered state of consciousness (ASC) experiences.

TRE is quite different in that it focuses mainly on the physical. Begun by Dr. David Berceli, TRE has been widely used to treat war veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and survivors of the Haiti earthquake and the Japan tsunami.

Although not physically present at our session, Berceli was on video to explain to us how TRE developed.

Berceli, who once volunteered as Mother Teresas driver in Calcutta, was in Beirut years ago when he found himself among individuals of different nationalities and races in the midst of bombings. Almost all of them had the same reaction to the danger: crouching and shaking. To make a long story short, Berceli later did studies and experiments that showed how human beings and animals reacted to and released tension.

A TRE video shows a polar bear shaking in the snow after recovering from a tranquilizing shot from wildlife workers.

Explains Berceli: TRE exercises elicit shaking in a controlled and sustained manner. When evoked, this shaking, also called neurogenic tremors, begins to release deep chronic muscular tension held within the body. They come from the center of gravity of the body which is protected by the psoas muscles. When shaking is evoked at this powerful center of the body, it reverberates through the entire body, traveling along the spine, releasing deep chronic tensions from the sacrum to the cranium.

Link:
Post-Yolanda trauma/tension releasing exercise